Greek euro crisis underscores need for change

Demonstrators in Athens urge Greece to accept more austerity in exchange for bailout funds.

Demonstrators in Athens urge Greece to accept more austerity in...

All my life, I’ve had to explain to those who find out I’m Greek American that I don’t believe in Zeus, I don’t smash plates as I walk down the street, and my family doesn’t own a diner. Nowadays, I have a lot more explaining to do.

My students in Oakland asked me this last year: “Ms. G, what’s happening over there in Greece? Are they broke or something?” That day, I realized just how mainstream this news had become.

On Tuesday, bankrupt Greece defaulted on a $1.73 billion payment to the International Monetary Fund, and its exit from the eurozone is looming.

I’m in Athens now, witnessing the financial crisis firsthand. People are panicked. There might be long lines at the ATMs, but there are even longer discussions.

When you get through all of the finger-pointing and conspiracy theories, Greeks are divided about Sunday’s referendum on whether to accept further austerity measures from European creditors in exchange for the rest of their bailout package.

The “no” voters are hyper-nationalist and don’t mind if Greece gives up the euro. They claim Greece has been bullied into unfair loan terms and has had its “throat stepped on” by the austerity that is choking them. Historically, Greeks have given the ceremonious “no” many times before — to Axis armies and Ottoman Empire invaders — they say.

The “yes” voters claim that Europe is the key to a brighter future, and being a part of the European Union will improve the lives of downtrodden Greeks and incite greater accountability and systems for change.

Pensions have been a big sticking point for compromise, and many Greeks are barely surviving. You won’t see any of that on your fancy vacation to Santorini, but if you venture out into the center of Athens you’ll see the people on the street, “for sale” signs on every building and the boarded-up windows. There is a sense of desperation I never felt in Greece before. Money is scarce, and burglaries and robberies are on the rise.

My aunt and uncle, two of Greece’s fabled government workers, have had their pensions slashed 30 percent. My cousins, who studied outside Greece because of the broken education system, are struggling to find job stability in a nation where average salaries are less than $880 a month and unemployment is at 25 percent. Just before the default, my cousin, who works in retail for a popular global brand, lost the $300 bonus he was counting on because sales fell 90 percent overnight at his store.

Gas is $6.73 a gallon. Grocery store basics run about $65. I can tell you endless stories of family friends that have left for abroad because they could not live this way. Only 10 percent of bailout funds go to the Greek people. The rest goes to the banks.

You often hear outsiders and their ignorant catchall phrase: “Greece did this to itself.” It’s not so simple.

Yes, corruption has been king — but that is not the biggest problem. As things stand, young Greeks have no future. What kind of a future could you have with $880 a month? What kind of country can you build with little industry, little innovation, and no change?

There is potential here, even in the crisis, but in order to realize it, some kind of change must come — with or without Europe.

Greece has a proud history, as anyone here is quick to tell you — Greeks just can’t be too proud to change.